A blog trying to focus on all the nice things in life, those moments when everything turns out right. Finding the perfect fabric for that chart you love, the ideal sampler quote, just the right picture in all the 1000s of magazines you own. Meeting people who share your interests and obsessions and totally understand why you NEED that chart when you already have enough to last until you're 104
It was an excellent month for Stitch from Stash and the bank account is looking very healthy!
March
Nothing £ 0.00
Total £ 0.00
Here is the Pie for March, the days allocated to Mrs Peggotty's Alice are generally where I worked a full day and only got a little bit of time in my lunch break to stitch.
The Satsuma Street Goose is my new start for Easter, the official title is Nest Egg but I'm calling it Goose in a Bonnet:
stitched on 32 count Marie's Daffodil from Chromatic Alchemy
If the white of the goose doesn't show up enough on the fabric I will add a grey backstitch.
Finally, the Easter Blog Hop is still going on, everyone has now posted after a slight confusion caused by me not realising that the Greek Orthodox Church celebrates Easter a week after the Church of England! One of the participants is also hosting a giveaway of an Easter themed chart so make sure you leave a comment on her blog to try and win it.
This year I am showing my Just Nan 12 Days of Christmas blocks for the Smalls SAL and also my 30-a-day projects. All smalls also by Just Nan. It's a Nan-a-thon year!
Three French Hens from 12 days of Christmas
I have had a busy month with work both paid and voluntary so missed a few days on my 30-a-Day but did manage to complete Potpourri except for the beading.
stitched on 32 count white evenweave
and started Charm Garden:
stitched on 32 count white linen
Charm Garden is a little bit bigger than some of the others so I might stitch more than 30 a day to try get it done in less than a month. The target with these is at least one per month.
Finally, don't forget the Easter Blog Hop is under way right now. There are a lot of participants this year but there is also plenty of time to visit and leave comments. The links all go direct to the Hop post now it make it easier for you to find the relevant post.
Welcome to this year's Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop, the biggest one yet! I was so pleased as more and more people signed up for the Hop this year. I am sure there will be some new blogs for everyone to discover as well as some firm favourites from previous years.
I don't have any new Easter Stitching unfortunately but I do have a lovely Spring piece stitched since last Easter:
Just Nan - Spring in the Square
I am starting the Blog Hop off this year with this letter:
Get a piece of paper, make a note of that letter and then hop round the blogs in the following order:
Each blog will feature a letter which will spell out the mystery phrase, the first line of a poem this year. Don't forget that some people will post later than others because of time zones. Come back here at the end and leave a comment telling me what the mystery phrase is. I have enabled comment moderation so the answers will not appear for two weeks. Closing date is Friday 13th April. How auspicious!
The fabric was a RAK from Tiff and is a little bit more acidic than in the photo, It's a Chromatic Alchemy Belfast called Marie's Daffodil. I will be stitching this for the next four days so will have something nice to show you hopefully on Easter Monday. The project bag was a gift from Lisa the Inspired Stitcher. It is the only frog I want near me!
Finally, there will be a new Blogger of the Week post up later today so don't forget to go and visit to see who it is. I will also be announcing the winner of the competition we hosted there recently.
Each month we have to share the projects we want to complete before the End Of The World. For me, this will be my "18 in '18". Many of them are part of SALs so I will be working on them each month.
This month I have stitched on 8 of the 18 projects!
1. Just Nan - Summer in the Square - a Finish:
stitched on 32 count Light Mocha Linen
2. Donna Kooler - Zodiac:
stitched on 32 count Millenium Blue linen
3. Jardin Prive - Happy Hallowe'en Night:
stitched on 32 count Cognac linen
4. Just Nan - 12 Days of Christmas:
stitched on 32 count Vintage Grain Linen
5. Satsuma Street - Libra:
stitched on 28 count Black Jobelan
6. Mrs Peggotty - Alice and Flamingo:
stitched over 1 on 25 count blue evenweave
7. Just Nan - Diamond Bouquet:
stitched on 28 count lilac evenweave
8. Lyndisfarne Designs - Discworld Mappe. This was my focus piece for the month and went from here:
to here:
stitched on 32 count Murano custom-dyed by Sparklies
That really is a particularly large head!
You can see the pages I have worked on so far:
The next time I pick it up in May, the plan is to finish the giant head, work down to page 2 (another pointing finger and some flipper. Then move across to page 7. Then after that I will work across the top of the design to the banner in the top right which will be backstitch hell!
Measi always sets us a discussion topic:
March – What newer designers and product creators (fabric or floss dyeing, etc) out there have you discovered and recommend?
My newest designers all come from Etsy, that seems to be the place for newbies to launch themselves. It's cheap and easy to set up and Etsy shop and if you offer PDFs there are few overheads and no postage.
My list of 18 includes a couple of new designers for me but the main one is Mrs Peggotty. Her shop is sub-titled "Where art meets literature" and she has some wonderful colouring pages as well as her gorgeous cross stitch designs. Linda talked me into doing a SAL with her this year, having seen her Mad Hatter I couldn't resist. She is already asking which one we are doing next year!
This is what Alice will look like completed, you can see what I have stitched further up this post:
Finally, this is your final call for the Easter Blog Hop sign up. If you want to have a letter for the Mystery Phrase then you need to email me by Tuesday 27th March as I will be deciding on that phrase on Wednesday. If you just plan to hop around then you have plenty of time, the Hop post will go up on my blog the morning of Good Friday - 30th March and the competition will stay open until my boys go back to school! (17th April)
This weekend was International Hermit & Stitch Weekend and once again I was working on Sunday! Never mind. I got lots done today instead.
On Friday I went to my Crafty Coffee Morning and took Mrs Peggotty's Alice with me. Here is where she was last IHSW:
And here is where she is now:
stitched over one on 25 count blue evenweave
The goal is to finish six pages by the end of the month. Possibly 7 pages.
The other project I've been working on is my focus for the month; Discworld Mappe by Lyndisfarne Designs.
Here is where it was at the start of Friday:
And here is where I am now:
And here is the entire piece so far:
stitched on 32 count evenweave custom-dyed by Sparklies
I am so pleased that the dye line is in exactly the right spot! It is obviously not a hard line but you can tell the difference between the sea and the sky which is what I wanted.
The next IHSW will be 20th - 22nd April so make sure you note the date in your diary or come and join us in the Facebook Group - IHSW on Facebook. If you don't do Facebook then you can check in on Joysze's Blog - Random Ramblings
Finally, there is still time to sign up for the Biggest Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop I have ever hosted. Simply leave a comment or email and I will add your name to the list. I don't decide on the Mystery Phrase until the last minute so there's always room for more.
It's TUSAL time, the Totally Useless SAL where we all show our ORTS and link-up on Daffycat's blog.
Here is my TUSAL jar with three current projects:
On the right we have Mrs Peggotty's Alice and Flamingo, mostly tree so far! The goal to finish it in a year is 2 pages per month. There are 7 pages in each column and I have stitched all of pages 7, 6 and 5 and most of page 4, some of page 3 and 2 and tiny bit of page 1. I am not doing a hard page finish because I don't want lines to show. Instead I continue a few stitches into the next page and reach a natural stopping place.
stitched over one on 25 count blue evenweave
On the left we have a new start for the 10-a-Day SAL, this is Autumn in the Square, the third in the Just Nan series.
stitched on 32 count Light Mocha linen
The final project at the back is the Discworld Mappe by Lyndisfarne Designs, this month's focus piece:
stitched on 32 count evenweave custom-dyed by Sparklies
Close-up of the section I am working on:
I stitched the pointing hand with the Turn-wise banner and started the turtle head.
My final project to show today is the Temperature SAL, some warmer days before we plunge back to purple this weekend!
Finally, I am still really far behind with email replies but I have gone through them all and noted down everyone who wants to take part in the Easter Blog Hop. If you haven't had a confirmation that you are on the list, please let me know. There is still plenty of space for anyone else to join in. I don't choose the Mystery Phrase until the last minute so I can always make it longer if more people join. Just leave a comment and let me know if you want to be in this year.
Welcome to the March Gifted Gorgeousness link-up. The link-up date will continue to be the 15th and I will keep the link-up open until the end of each month so you have plenty of time if you are late posting.
The format remains exactly the same, there is a list of rules on the main sign-up page if you want to check what is required but basically anything connected to the word "gift" is allowed, whether it was a gift TO you or is a gift FROM you.
In the past month I have stitched a few gifted pieces and received a gift/prize myself.
My focus piece was Gardens of London by Chateleine - gift for my Birthday:
stitched on 32 count Cotton Clouds Belfast by Crafty Kitten
12 Days of Christmas by Just Nan - the chart was a gift:
stitched on 32 count Vintage Grain linen
Diamond Bouquet by Just Nan - the chart was a gift:
stitched on 28 count lilac evenweave
I made a very small amount of progress on this month's focus piece which will be the Discworld Mappe by Lyndisfarne Designs. I stitched a hand with a banner which will say "turnwise" when I backstitch it:
stitched on 32 count evenweave custom dyed by Sparklies
The gift I received was actually a prize for the taking part in Heather's Smalls SAL all last year. She made me this gorgeous tote bag full of stitchy goodies:
As well as the bag, there are some fabric pieces for smalls, some scrapbook embellishments and a wooden thread holder (I am starting a collection of these!).
Also, a lovely stitched poppy card:
And a contribution to my pension fund. I mean, a delightful Lizzie*Kate chart, soon to be OOP!
Love the sentiment on both those designs, just perfecr for this SAL. Maybe I will stitch it and make it the logo for next year?
Now it is your turn to show us your Gifted Gorgeousness for the month. Please use your name or your blog name in the field and NOT the words "March Update" so I can easily see who has linked up this month. And link to the actual post, not just your blog. It is easier if you copy and paste the link, rather than typing freehand.
Please could you remember to link up as well as make your post. The last two months there have been a few people making GG posts but not linking. Which means they don't get entered into the draw. If you have technical or memory issues, just leave a comment and let me know!
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🐇 🐇 🐇 🐇 🐇 🐇 🐇 🐇 🐇 🐇 🐇 🐇
Finally, don't forget the Easter Blog Hop. If you would like to take part this year, just leave a comment here. The week before Easter I will send you a letter of the alphabet which will form part of the mystery phrase. On Good Friday you will post that letter along with a photo of something seasonal that you have stitched (could be Easter or Spring or just something cheerful and sunny or floral). We all hop around like little bunnies to find the Mystery Phrase!
The snow part of the title refers to the Beast from the East which caused widespread travel chaos and school closures in the last days of February and first days of March.
On the plus side I got to use some new colours in my Temperature SAL and some more snow beads! The blue and purples represent temperatures between 2 degrees and zero degrees Celsius. The pinkypurple represents the day when the High Temperature was only minus 2 degrees (28 degrees F).
stitched on 22 count white hardanger
The Christmas part is the ongoing progress on Just Nan's 12 Days of Christmas. This month I stitched Block 3 - 3 French Hens:
stitched on 32 count Vintage Grain linen
The top four blocks so far:
After Christmas I moved backwards in time to Hallowe'en and Jardin Prive's Happy Hallowe'en Night:
stitched on 32 count Cognac Linen
The whole piece so far:
The theme for March is Black Cats. I am moving about the piece as the themes don't always fit the next logical area to stitch.
🐇 🐇 🐇 🐇 🐇 🐇 🐇 🐇 🐇 🐇 🐇 🐇
Finally, don't forget the Easter Blog Hop. If you would like to take part this year, just leave a comment here. The week before Easter I will send you a letter of the alphabet which will form part of the mystery phrase. On Good Friday you will post that letter along with a photo of something seasonal that you have stitched (could be Easter or Spring or just something cheerful and sunny or floral). We all hop around like little bunnies to find the Mystery Phrase!
